The Iona College indoor track and field team saw the men and women finish in the top five competed at the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Indoor Track and Field Championship down in Manhattan on Feb. 19.

The men’s team placed third with 116 points, while the women came in fifth, with 56 points. Two Gaels received accolades at the tournament as freshman Julia Flower and sophomore Jac Hopkins received “Rookie of the Meet” honors.

For the men’s mile, Iona swept the podium. Junior Liam Dee earned first place with a time of 4:09.16. Senior Chartt Miller, who came in at 4:10.33, finished second. Junior Johannes Motschmann received bronze with a time of 4:11.25.

Freshman Gemma Nuttall came in first with a time of 4:58.64 in the women’s mile. Fellow freshman Kaitlyn Ohrtman was less than a second behind her teammate. Freshman Egle Morenaite placed fifth followed by junior Rachel Garn, who came in seventh place.

The men once again swept the podium, but this time it was the 3,000-meter. Junior Gilbert Kirui claimed gold with a time of 8:13.37. Graduate student Kieran Clements took second place at 8:16.86 followed by Motschmann with 8:18.29, Hopkins at 8:18.92 and senior Brandon Allen with 8:23.98.

On the women’s side, Flower came in third at 10:01.61, senior Cassandra Gill in sixth with a time of 10:07.71, and junior Jessica Scheriff came in eighth place at 10:08.63.

Iona received another strong outing from its runners in the men’s 5,000-meter. Clements (14:15.47), Kirui (14:18.25), Hopkins (14:24.94), senior Andrew Tario (14:25.08) and Allen (14:46.64) all came in first through fifth respectively.

The women’s distance medley relay saw the Gaels come second with a team of freshman Kaitlyn Ohrtman, junior Danika Jensen, Nuttall Morenaite run a time of 12:03.49. The men’s came in first in the same event. Dee, junior Robert Kirsty, senior Ross Wightman and Miller composed a time of 9:57.39.

In the 4x400m relay, freshman Calvin Chin, Kirsty, Dee and Wightman turned in a performance of 3:25.49, which put them in fifth place. Sophomore Helena Keenan, Garn, Jensen and Nuttall came in sixth with a time of 4:11.20

After the Gaels’ outstanding performance at the MAAC Championship, Dee ran the second fastest indoor mile time in school history with a 3:58.19 time at the Boston University Last Chance Meet on Feb. 28. Dee joined his father, Billy Dee, to become the ninth father-son combination to both break four-minute miles.

Dee’s time sits behind Richard Kiplagat for the fastest mile run in school history, but his time is good for 12th in the nation.

Dee will compete in the NCAA Championship, which starts on March 10 at Texas A&M.